Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
SA red meat producers hold talks
At its recent annual council meeting, the South African Federation of Red Meat Producers dealt with a number of issues that are of concern to the industry.
matters of common interest to commercial and emerging red meat producers were discussed at the recent annual council meeting of the South African Federation of Red Meat Producers, a formal structure consisting of the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (RPO) and the National Emerging Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (NERPO).
The meeting opened with a motion of compassion for those farmers, farmworkers and livestock suffering from the devastating drought.
LEVY AND STOCK THEFT
Other matters discussed included the following:
• The federation is satisfied with the feedback received from the Red Meat Industry Forum, the body representing the total value chain, as well as with all the actions undertaken on behalf of role players this year.
• The statutory levy will come to an end in November 2020, and the forum has decided not to apply for it anymore. Instead, individual role players or clusters of role players may apply for the levy. The meeting was informed that a cluster comprising the RPO, NERPO, the Red Meat Abattoir Association and the SA Feedlot Association was finalising a levy application.
The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy has been consulted to indicate possible shortcomings within the industry that can be addressed with the aid of the statutory levy.
It is very clear that capacity problems within government will necessitate a higher levy to ensure the industry’s success. The aim is to finalise the concept of the application by January 2020.
• Activities funded by statutory levies. The federation received feedback on sustainable production projects undertaken by NERPO and the RPO over the past year. Comprehensive feedback was also received on the consumer education programme of Sheep and Mutton South Africa and BeefTalk. The federation agreed to establish a centre for excellence as a service provider for mutton and beef consumer education. Feedback was also received on the transformation projects in which RPO and NERPO are involved.
• Stock theft. On 12 September 2019, Minister of Police Bheki Cele presented South Africa’s crime statistics, including those for livestock theft. Taking 2014/2015 as the base year, the cases of livestock theft rose by an alarming 18,8% over the past five years, while the number of livestock stolen increased 26,5% over the same period.
South Africa thus loses one economic farming unit per day. In cases where people farm limited numbers of livestock, their livelihood is simply destroyed.
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• To deal with predation issues, a formal structure has been finalised in the form of Predation Management South Africa. A scientific assessment of predation management has also been finalised, and this will contribute to the establishment of norms and standards. The new structure will focus on training.
• The latest import and export figures have been released and it is clear that South Africa is internationally competitive, as overseas imports are low. Beef exports are on nearly the same levels as before the foot-andmouth disease (FMD) outbreak in January. Hard work has been done to realise bilateral agreements for exports.
The director of animal health was requested via the National Animal Health Forum (NAHF) to compile a risk analysis before permits were granted for the import of cattle from Botswana.
• NAHF. The most recent outbreak of FMD was discussed in detail. The federation was of the opinion that accountability had to be considered. FMD is a controlled disease and its control is therefore the primary responsibility of the provincial and national agriculture departments.
• The federation formally requested the Livestock Welfare Coordinating Committee to scientifically evaluate the export of live slaughter animals by sea.
• It was agreed that research would, to a large extent, now be dictated by the industry, and not necessarily the research community.
• The federation unanimously supported a voluntary grading system for beef, supplementary to the classification system, and with the view of guaranteeing the consumer a better eating experience.
• Phone the RPO on 012 349 1102/1103, or email rpo@lantic.net.